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21-year-old blogger detained despite release order

CAIRO: A 21-year-old blogger arrested in July has been detained under an administrative detention order after a public prosecution office last week ordered his release. Mohamed Refaat Bayyoumy, a student of mass communications, turned himself into state security investigations on July 21, the same night a force from state security raided his home and seized …

CAIRO: A 21-year-old blogger arrested in July has been detained under an administrative detention order after a public prosecution office last week ordered his release.

Mohamed Refaat Bayyoumy, a student of mass communications, turned himself into state security investigations on July 21, the same night a force from state security raided his home and seized his computer hard drive and books.

Bayyoumy was at the cinema at the time of the raid.

He was brought before the state security prosecution office on July 24 and ordered to be held in custody during the course of investigations into charges of membership of a banned subversive organization – the Muslim Brotherhood – and possession of literature promoting the idea of this organization.

According to a statement released by the Hisham Mubarak Law Center on Aug. 23, Bayyoumy was accused of promoting this organization via the internet and in particular, the networking site Facebook.

On Aug. 3 the prosecution office ordered that he be detained for a further 15 days.

His release was ordered by a public prosecution office in Cairo’s Fifth District on Aug. 17.

A lawyer from the Arab Network for Human Rights (ANHRI), Hoda Nasrallah, who attended the public prosecution office investigation, told Daily News Egypt last week that she feared Bayyoumy would not be released but, rather, would be detained under an administrative detention order.

“We fear, however, that an administrative detention order will be issued by state security investigations in violation of the public prosecution office’s release order – this is an extremely common practice in Egypt, Nasrallah said.Rights groups claim that tens of thousands of Egyptian political prisoners are detained in prisons under continuously-renewed administrative detention orders, sometimes for years.

The state of emergency, under which detention orders are issued, has been continuously in force in Egypt since 1981.

Members of Bayyoumy’s family demonstrated Saturday outside the public prosecutor’s office with members of the April 6 Youth Movement, calling for his release.

Lawyers from ANHRI and the Hisham Mubarak Law Center presented a complaint about Bayyoumy’s enforced disappearance and illegal detention to the attorney general of the supreme state security prosecution offices.

While they were presenting the complaint, lawyers were informed that a detention order had been issued against Bayyoumy.

Lawyer Hamdy El-Assiouty from ANHRI told Daily News Egypt that ANHRI will challenge Bayyoumy’s detention at the end of the 30-day period he has been detained for.

“[Bayyoumy’s] administrative detention and, prior to this his detention in custody during the course of investigations, were carried out without state security bodies presenting any evidence to substantiate their claims, ANHRI said in a statement also released on Aug. 23.

Bayyoumy is now charged with offending state institutions, threatening public security and calling for a strike via the internet.

“He was not arrested while committing a crime and his blog does not mention anything about the alleged strike, it continues.

When asked why Bayyoumy – a student who has never before been arrested and has no political activity – has been detained, El-Assiouty told Daily News Egypt, “there is no ‘why’ or logic in detention orders.

ANHRI suggests that the absence of evidence against Bayyoumy “makes clear that this police body can no longer be brought to account, and is no longer subject to the supervision of even the Interior Ministry – which it is answerable to.

“[Bayyoumy].has not committed any crime, nor does his blog contain what security bodies allege it does.

“Instead of receiving an apology for the bitter days he spent imprisoned, he has now been detained under the hated emergency law, the statement continues.